The present disclosure generally relates to a control knob assembly, and more particularly relates to a combination shifter and engine start apparatus for a vehicle.
Modern vehicles are plagued with a large amount of switch gear (i.e., controls, etc.). Such switch gear controls various systems of the vehicle, such as the navigation system, the HVAC system, the audio system, etc., and other functions of the vehicle, such as selecting a gear (e.g., park, neutral, reverse, drive, etc.) of a transmission, starting/stopping of the vehicle's engine, etc. Due to the ever increasing number of controls and switches provided in vehicles, organization becomes a challenge and ease of use can be hindered.
One known rotary shift knob is provided in Jaguar's 2009 XF vehicle. In particular, this vehicle uses a rotary control knob to shift its automatic transmission. Starting of the engine in this vehicle occurs through a separately disposed start button. One known Mercedes Benz vehicle combines a shifter control and start button. In particular, this vehicle provides a shifter lever having a start button disposed thereon. Unfortunately, the room needed for packaging this arrangement is still significant and the start/stop button is always visible, even when the engine is started and the vehicle is moving. In another known shifter, an LCD display is provided that displays a gear selection on the knob itself. No starter functionality is provided in combination with this shifter. In still another Mercedes Benz vehicle (i.e., the SLR McLaren), a start button is hidden in a shifter knob. In particular, the start button is hidden under a flap that is flipped up when access to the start button is desired.